Maria's May Reads

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I want to apologise in advance - some of these reviews are quite long. What can I say - I got wordy ;) Because of that, I'm going to try something new and put each review behind a separate cut instead of just having one big cut for the whole thing. Let me know if that's an absolutely horrible idea?

Finnikin of the Rock - Melina Marchetta, 3.5/5, 399 pages
I wasn't sure whether to give this 3 or 4 'stars'. It's good, but not great. I was interested enough in the plot and the characters, but it wasn't completely un-put-downable, and I occasionally found my thoughts wandering, leaving me to reread the same passage several times, because I couldn't concentrate properly on it the first time.

I was rather disappointed by this, because I so wanted to love it. I really enjoyed seeing a fantasy novel where magic wasn't in the main seat, and I grew to quite like the characters - especially the thief Froi, who provided a refreshing new perspective on the events. But at the end of the day, it just wasn't good enough to warrant a 4-star rating.

The Story of the Treasure Seekers - E. Nesbit, 4/5, Audibook ~5hrs
As always Edith Nesbit delivers a delightful tale, and I actually think this is her best yet. Aimed at children, but not any the worse for not having been read until the "ripe old age" of 29. I grew to love the Bastables and enjoyed seeing them getting in and out of scrapes all the time. There's not much too it, but it's a sweet little book that put me in a good mood to read.

Betrayed - P.C. & Kristin Cast, 4/5, 305 pages
I mostly enjoyed "Betrayed". It was mostly a fun and well-written book that I liked a lot and had difficulties putting down until the last page was turned.

Mostly.

Because I occasionally had to stop and just shake my head in bafflement, because Zoey is such a Mary Sue! I don't usually notice Mary Sues, but with Zoey it's so blatantly obvious that even I would have had to be blind not to notice it. If she had any more guys pursuing her, they'd have to stand in line and take a number, and of course she can do anything she sets out to do, because the goddess Nyx is with her.

But that aside I did really enjoy the book. I liked reading about Zoey's growing friendships with the other students of the House of Night, and was fascinated by the complexity of Neferet and Aphrodite both. Especially the latter is probably the most complex character in the series so far, and I'm really looking forward to seeing what will come of her in the later books.

Rocco - Sherryl Jordan*, 4/5, 215 pages
Rocco is the first book that I can remember making me cry. It's always a bit of a gamble to revisit books that had such a strong hold over you at some stage in life, because if it doesn't still - it's bound to be a let-down.

While it couldn't completely live up to my expectations, it fortunately came very, very close, so I only had to down-scale my rating from 5 to 4 stars. It's an interesting story, and powerfully written. I could have wished for it to be a bit longer and slightly more complex, as it is very obvious that it's written with an YA audience in mind. On the other hand, if Rocco had stayed longer in Anshur, I think the book would have ended up being even more painful to read.

A quick read - I finished in in 2 hours - and a pleasant revisit.

Blood Sins - Kay Hooper, 3/5, 296 pages
Blood Sins is the 11th book about Bishop's Special Crimes Unit and the second book in the Blood-trilogy. I haven't read ANY of Kay Hooper's earlier books, so was somewhat anxious to see how utterly lost I would be, by jumping straight into the middle of the action, so to speak.

Fortunately, not much. Granted, there were naturally references I didn't get and background stories I had to guess at, but mostly the important elements were well described, and I had no problems following the plot of this book by itself, even if I did find some of the characters quite two-dimensional because of the lack of time spent on their characterisations - probably assumed well-known territory.

I rather enjoyed the book regardless though. It was interesting and the plot engaging. It did seem like Kay Hooper couldn't quite decide on her genre though. It seemed to be marketed as a horror novel, but I was left remarkably unspooked by it... (but whether that's just because I've been conditioned by Stephen King's novels, I couldn't say ;) ). The main characters never seemed in any real danger, and thus I was left firmly planted in the middle of my seat the entire time. I think that, more than anything else, is the reason for my average rating. I did appreciate that this for once seemed to be a paranormal novel NOT aimed at a YA audience though.

The Coffee Mom's Devotional - Celeste Palermo, 4/5, 202 pages
A selection of "coffee-cup length" devotionals. I found them a refreshing change from many other devotionals I've been reading lately. It doesn't preach at the reader, but makes you feel like you've sat down to have a chat with a good friend. I found peace and comfort in the pages, and grew to care for both Celeste and her family, as I could recognize much of myself and personal life in their experiences.

There's no exegesis involved in the devotionals - instead they help you focus on God's blessings, and offer suggestions on how to continue spending your coffee break with God - even after the last page has been turned. Some of which I'm trying to put into practise.

Bibelen fortalt for store og små - Ingrid Schrøder-Hansen, 5/5, 436 pages
The title literally translates to "The Bible told for big and small" and is a retelling of the Bible by a famous Danish story teller. She has an amazing talent for story-telling and it was extremely well done. Many of the old tales I suddenly saw in a completely different light, from the new way of telling it, and even the most well-known stories (like the Christmas and the Easter gospel) affected me more strongly than ever before. Gorgeous book.

Dødens mange facetter - Dennis Jürgensen, 4.5/5, 228 pages
(The Many Faces of Death)
I've been known to say that the only short stories worth reading are those by L.M. Montgomery. I'm going to have to take that back. Dennis Jürgensen is a well-known Danish author who writes excellent fantasy and so-so horror. Seeing as this was a collection of horror short stories, my expectations weren't very high, but I ended up finishing the collection in just two sittings, because I kept thinking "Okay, just one more story.... The next one isn't that long, just one more..."

"Dødens mange facetter" can be translated to "The Many Faces of Death", but despite death being the red thread that ties the stories together, the stories are varied in style and genre and the collection ends up being neither depressing nor macabre. Death shows itself in many ways, and it's not necessarily tragic, and not necessarily tragic. And at times, it's downright humorous.

Unfortunately I doubt the collection will ever be translated to English, but if it does - or if you read Danish - I highly recommend it... even if horror isn't usually your cup of tea.

The Shack - William Paul Young, 4/5, 250 pages
I approached this book rather hesitantly. I'd heard a LOT of good things about it, how it'd changed the reader's life - but just as many readers turned around and accused it of heresy and blasphemy. However, I trust Morfar not to lead me astray, so once I heard that he'd read it and approved of it, I decided to give it a try and see what the fuss was all about.

Well, as you can see from the rating, I ended up really liking it. I had difficulties putting it down, and have found myself thinking about it, ever since finishing it. I have to admit I don't see the heresy or blasphemy, and the so-called "controversy" seems a stretch as well. To me it seemed a straight-forward, if perhaps somewhat simplified, way of describing/explaining the different aspects and faces of the Christian God.

I can't go into more depth about the blasphemy/heresy accusations without including spoilers, but I'd be more than happy to discuss it with anybody who might be interested, so please do leave comments or send me a message. For now it'll suffice to say that I didn't see either, and would recommend the book to anybody without reservations.

Bloodhound - Tamora Pierce, 4/5, Audiobook ~18hrs
After the disappointment of Melting Stones it was great to see Tamora Pierce back on track in Bloodhound. I enjoyed it every bit as much as I expected to. It's as engaging as the first Beka Cooper book, and I think the journal style suits the action very well. Odd that I'm not as fond of Pounce as I am of his counterpart in the Alanna series though. He just seems... a lot less sympathetic. Not that I decidedly dislike him, but I didn't mind that he wasn't there for most of this book.

I do think Tamora Pierce tried too hard to be "politically correct" though. One of the main characters is gay, and far too much time is spent on Beka explaining why "that's okay, even though some people don't like it", which ended up really bugging me. If he's gay, he's gay. Just leave it at that. No need to start preaching at the audience.

Susan Denaker did a really good job of narrating the story. She sounded a bit too old to pass for a teenage girl, but did both voices and emotions well, so I can forgive her for not being the right age ;)

A Game of Thrones - George R.R. Martin, 2.5/5, 674 pages
I'm not sure whether this deserves 2 or 3 stars... It's not exactly boring, but very slow-moving. It doesn't usually take me a couple of weeks to read a book of this size, but I found it much too easy to put it down and was never totally engrossed in it.

I think part of this may have been that it was so dark and bleak from the very first page. The main characters were heading towards a miserable future, and it made me hesitant to like any of them, because I didn't want to feel too badly when things went wrong.

Of course I couldn't stop myself from liking the sympathetic characters regardless, so it frustrated me that those were a) the ones that were given the least page time and b) the ones whose future was left wide open for exploration in the next books. I've always been of the opinion that even books in a series should be able to stand somewhat on their own. Of course threads can and should be left open to be explored in future books, but it always annoys me when the thread I'm most interested in is left unfinished, making me feel "forced" to read the next book.

I don't know that I will... I'm very interested in knowing what happens to Daenery Targaryen, and desperately want to know whether or not Arya returns safely to her family, but are those two issues enough to make me want to wade through another 6-700 pages without even knowing for sure that they'll be resolved in that book? That I don't know.

So on the whole, unfortunately quite a big disappointment. I had great hopes for it, because it came highly recommended, but unfortunately it couldn't live up to it, and won't be a series I'll be rushing to follow.

If You Could See Me Now - Cecelia Ahern, 3/5, 410 pages
What I liked about Cecelia Ahern's debut novel "PS, I Love You" was it's poignancy and it's depth. It wasn't your typical chick-lit, but went below the surface.

"If You Could See Me Now" has a bit of that same depth, but in a very, very different way and I'm not entirely sure it works in this one... or rather, I think the basic premise (a woman falling in love with an imaginary friend) was one that didn't really work for me. It's a sweet book, and a good way to spend a relaxing afternoon, but I didn't really buy how Ivan's laissez faire attitude could help Elizabeth loosen up and have such a major impact on her personality. And because I couldn't buy that, the ending seemed rushed and inconclusive.

The Fetch - Laura Whitcomb, 3/5, 378 pages
My expectations of "The Fetch" were very, very low - practically non-existent in fact... Which is probably why I couldn't help but be positively surprised. I was fascinated by the story and had a really hard time putting it down, although now that I'm looking back at it, I'm hard pressed to say why. It was definitely more the writing style and the atmosphere than the people and the plot that caught my attention.

The book does have its problems though. It can't seem to decide on a genre and keeps switching back and forth between fantasy, historical fiction and paranormal fiction; the plot is very flimsy and the characters 2-dimensional at best. It's marketed as YA but will probably be more likely to appeal to an older audience.

The basic premise was enjoyable, but the execution could definitely have been improved.

The Giver - Lois Lowry, 5/5, 180 pages
While I've seen this book on many, many, many "Top xx" lists, I'd never heard what it was actually about, and so I had no idea at all what to expect when I picked it up this afternoon.

And that was probably a good thing, because I don't think a description could have done it justice. I was completely blown away. The environment Lois Lowry sets up is so complete and so baffling that trying to explain it would be doing it a disservice.

I was fascinated by the community and the lifestyle described, and am very impressed by how Lois Lowry got so much across in so few pages. It's one of the most simultaneously thrilling and hopeful 'alternative future' novels (think "Brave New World", "1984" etc.) I've ever read.

Highly recommendable. I finished it in under 2 hours.

Where Do I Go? - Neta Jackson, 4/5, 370 pages
This is my second attempt at reviewing this book, because I don't think I did it justice the first time around.

At a first glance the book was a huge disappointment. I'd come to it expecting warmth and comfort, I left it crying of frustration and hopelessness. Any book powerful enough to do that to me deserves more than the original three stars I have it - for writing, even if it doesn't for plot.

And the plot was very unpleasant to read. Instead of starting with a person who was ill off and whose circumstances improved through the book, we're here presented with a person whose life at the outlook seems... if not great, then at least satisfactory, but whose circumstances deteriorate through the book, leaving her with the rug pulled out from underneath her at the last page.

It's the first few chapters of Job, before God stepped in.

What really annoyed me about the book was that this was where it ended. There was no resolution, no last-minute waving of a magic wand (which is good, I guess - I don't like last-minute wavings of magic wands in an otherwise realistic book). All there was was an incredibly open ending, and a woman whose life had suddenly hit rock bottom.

This is where my thoughts were at last night, and why I wrote the review I did.

Now that I've slept on it and thought about it some more, I've realized that my mistake was in assuming it was a self-contained novel. If instead I view it as an introduction or a prequel to the series, it changes from being frustrating an disappointing to being incredibly powerful and captivating. What I wrote yesterday (review saved here for reference) still stands, but my perspective has changed. It'll be interesting to see where Neta Jackson takes the series from here.

I guess I'll know come September.

It still doesn't quite deserve 5 stars, but 4 is a fitting compromise.

Goodnight, Beautiful - Dorothy Koomson, 3/5, 433 pages
If you want to try out Dorothy Koomson get hold of "My Best Friend's Girl" instead and give this one a pass. It's not that it's bad, it just doesn't live up to the expectations set by MBFG.

I think it's my lot to read depressing novels at the moment. Where "My Best Friend's Girl" was what we in Danish call life-confirming and positive, this one made for very difficult and sad reading. I liked the depths of it, but it frustrated me in that so much of the heart-ache could have been avoided if the characters had just talked bout their thoughts and fears, instead of pretending to be "10 feet tall and bullet proof" all the time.

Well written but very sad. Definitely not the book to pick up if you're in need of some comfort reading. It did end on a somewhat upbeat note, but had me feeling very bummed out at times.

Book of the month: The Giver. Seriously, I cannot find words for how much this book blew me away. In style it reminded me a lot of Singularity by William Sleator which has been one of my favourites in a very long time.
Biggest disappointment: Where Do I Go?. For once not the book with the lowest rating, but the one I had the highest expectations of, and the one I was saddest to discover "didn't deliver".